Chapter 91: Investing in Sonya and Elara
The ten 1st Echelon zombies naturally provided better loot, causing a small crowd to gather whenever another glowing object was discovered.
Cain paid almost no attention to them.
"Divide those yourselves."
Maya looked toward him.
"You don’t want any?"
"No."
The things dropped by ordinary zombies no longer interested Cain much. If something particularly valuable appeared, someone would eventually tell him about it anyway.
There was only one thing he wanted from the corpses.
Cain pointed toward the ten dead 1st Echelon zombies.
"Bring me their Cores."
That order was carried out immediately.
Removing Mana Cores had already become familiar to many of the stronger members. It was unpleasant work, but nobody hesitated over something so valuable anymore.
Before long, ten bloodstained Cores were placed in front of Cain.
He crouched beside them and extended one hand.
Dark gray Ruin energy gathered around his fingers before gradually spreading across the first Core.
The contaminated energy inside reacted immediately.
Faint black impurities appeared near its surface before disappearing beneath the destructive nature of Ruin.
Cain repeated the process with the remaining Cores.
He did not rush as these were resources he intended to place inside someone else’s body. So, leaving behind even a small amount of contamination because he wanted to save some time would be idiotic.
While Cain purified them, the injured survivors gathered around Doctor Owen.
Several people had suffered claw wounds during the fight. One man had a dislocated shoulder after being thrown aside by an Unranked zombie, while another woman had a deep cut across her forearm.
None of the injuries were life-threatening.
Doctor Owen went from one injured survivor to the next, treating their wounds one by one.
Evelyne remained nearby but did not help unless necessary.
Cain had specifically told her to preserve her Mana.
Her healing ability could become extremely important once they finally confronted the 2nd Echelon zombie. Using Mana now to heal injuries that Doctor Owen could easily handle would only reduce one of their safety measures for the upcoming battle.
A few minutes later, the final Core became clean.
Cain gathered all ten before standing.
"Elara."
Elara had been wiping blood from her sword when she heard him.
She looked over.
"What?"
"Come here."
She approached him with a slightly curious expression.
Cain opened his Inventory.
Four more Mana Cores appeared in his hand.
Unlike the ten zombie Cores, these came from evolved animals and did not contain the same contamination. Cain had deliberately kept them instead of allowing Ron to absorb everything they obtained during their earlier hunt.
Elara looked at the fourteen Cores in front of her.
Her expression changed.
"All of these?"
"Yes, absorb them." Cain nodded.
Elara stared at him.
"Me?"
"Who else am I talking to?"
"That’s not what I meant."
She looked at the Cores again.
Fourteen 1st Echelon Cores were an enormous amount of resources for a single person.
"You could divide them between everyone."
"We can get more later, but you’re the top priority for now." Cain pushed the Cores toward her.
Elara hesitated for a moment.
Her Mana Core had already progressed significantly since her advancement, but she understood how much farther it could grow after absorbing so many Cores at once.
Before she could answer, Ron’s voice came from the side.
"Wait a fucking minute."
Cain slowly turned toward him.
Ron pointed at the Cores.
"Fourteen cores?"
"Yes."
"All for her?"
"Yes."
Ron placed one hand against his chest.
"And what about your poor best friend who risked his life being chased by evolved animals for the sake of becoming stronger?"
Cain stared at him.
"You already reached the Tempered stage."
"That doesn’t mean I should stop getting stronger."
Cain thought for a moment, then he spoke calmly. "I’ll give you something good later if you shut your mouth."
"Understood." Ron immediately lowered his hand.
Cain blinked his eyes.
"That was fast."
"I know when to stop talking."
Nathan, who stood nearby, looked at him strangely.
Ron ignored the look.
Cain returned his attention to Elara.
"Absorb them."
This time, she did not argue.
"Alright."
Elara sat down beside one of the buses and placed the first Core against her chest.
Her Ice Mana Core reacted almost immediately.
Pale blue Mana spread faintly beneath her skin as the energy contained inside the Core began flowing into her body.
Cain watched for several seconds.
When nothing appeared wrong, he turned away and that was when he noticed Evelyne staring at him.
Her expression was difficult to misunderstand.
She looked at Elara, then at Cain and then back at the fourteen Cores.
Cain pretended not to notice.
Beside Evelyne, Sonya had already noticed the entire exchange.
Unlike Evelyne, amusement appeared in her eyes.
The silver-haired woman looked between Cain and his two childhood friends before smiling faintly.
Cain sighed internally.
He had absolutely no intention of explaining himself.
The reason he concentrated resources on Elara was simple, but explaining Investment Returns was impossible without exposing his System.
"Sonya."
Her smile immediately became brighter.
"Yes?"
"Come here."
Sonya walked toward him.
Cain opened his Inventory again.
A Green Scroll appeared in his hand.
Sonya stopped in front of him and looked at it curiously.
"For me?"
"Use it."
"You’re becoming very generous today."
"I can take it back."
Sonya immediately snatched the Scroll from his hand and snorted, "Hmmph!"
Cain chuckled.
"Then use it."
Sonya opened the Scroll, green light spread from the paper and surrounded her body.
The Scroll gradually dissolved into particles of energy before entering her chest.
A notification appeared in front of her.
[You have obtained Flame Compression, a B-rank Talent.]
Sonya’s eyes widened.
She remained silent for several seconds, then a flame appeared above her palm.
It looked different from the ordinary Fire Mana she had used before.
The flame contracted.
Its size decreased, but the heat coming from it became noticeably stronger.
Sonya’s expression brightened.
"This is good."
"It can become better." Cain chuckled.
She looked toward Cain with a confused expression.
Cain had already opened her information.
He could see the new Talent alongside the weak Fireball Skill she had possessed since awakening.
His gaze shifted toward his System Points.
[System Points: 253,200]